THE OTHER SIDE. aa

zehn.

     you didn't have to! you no longer like reiner, anyway. he's just a protective best friend! he does that to pieck and annie too. why did you even think of such a thing? even you couldn't answer your question.

     i need to like someone, stat. you thought bitterly, or else i'm going to make myself crazy and fall for this asshole all over again.

     the light soon turned green and you pressed on the pedal and continued on your merry quiet way to college.

     "so how's work yesterday?" reiner questioned, pulling you out of your deep thoughts.

     you glanced at the buff blond once again and saw him putting his phone away, focusing his attention on you. which you really didn't like.

     the college was still twenty minutes or so away, what could he possibly talk about with those excess time? thinking about it gave you a bad feeling but you guessed that it probably had something to do with your supposed boyfriend. why can't he go back to scrolling his phone and allow you to have a quiet time to reflect on your past regrets?

     "it was fine," you replied, "it wasn't crowded so the time pretty much flew past."

     reiner nodded slowly, "that's good to know. did you rest afterward? i slept kinda early yesterday so i didn't get to see your car." he inquired truthfully, flashing a small smile.

     you pursed your lips and shrugged, "uh, you already know my answer." you cheekily grinned. reiner sighed and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. despite texting you to sleep early multiple times and giving you so many lectures as if he was captain america, you did not listen to his concerns, and to him, it was getting exhausting.

     "y/n, seriously, what are you even doing at the ocean at such a time? don't you get, oh i don't know, tired?" he asked almost in irritation, quirking an eyebrow.

     "reading by the ocean and smelling the sea salt every now and then makes me relax, reiner." you defended, smiling a little to see him get so worked up on a trivial thing.

     "does your boyfriend even know about this? honestly, i won't be surprised if he's not even asking if you have eaten or how your sleep was. that means he's a dickhead!"

     a laugh went past your lips at this, "reiner, that's okay! i don't want someone smothering me and my every move."

     "that's not what i meant!" he argued back, "i'm just saying, he should worry about you. don't you guys video call or some shit? he'd notice how tired you actually are."

     you bit your lip and decided to lie, just to get him off your back. besides, it's the only thing you've been doing these past few days. you're probably a pro at it now. "actually, the reason why i stay up late at the beach is that we call and chat there, okay? no need to get your panties in a twist."

     "if he loves you he should've let you sleep instead, he should know that you've been stressing yourself a lot because of work and college," he mumbled quietly after sighing, arms crossed as he looked out of the window.

     you were about to retaliate when he asked another question, "what's his name anyway? age? his course? where does he live? i need to have some kind of background check."

     well, questions.

     you rolled your eyes and took a deep breath, this is it y/n, you better not screw this up and spill the truth.

     "his name is ar- aaron, he's, uh, a year younger than me," you started hesitantly, "he-he studies marine biology too and uh like i said, he lives in a different city. augsburg."